Thursday, October 18, 2007

right paw

Last night Judy and I were trying out her new nail clipper. She was being so patient and letting me trim her back left paw, her front left paw, and then I moved to her front right paw....she was calm and curious. Probably wondering about what this new gadget was doing and thinking, wow, I can't feel anything but I know that something is happening, this is fun....

I prepare the clipper for the right nail...and then Judy startles and scoots away.

As I look into her eyes I know that I have done something wrong. Oh NO! I have cut to far down. My mind is racing. Oh Judy, oh no! I am so sorry. I start to panic. Jake!!!! I cut too far. Judy is bleeding. Jake rushes upstairs to the kitchen and as tears are streaming down my face Judy quickly licks my hand to let me know that it is okay. But I can't stop crying. Now there is a small pool of blood under her front right paw. I am now officially freaking out and Jake is holding Judy. He tells me to calm down but I cannot. I run to get a gauze pad and some tape. Judy just looks at me and I feel so horrible I cannot believe I have hurt her and made her bleed. I wrap her little paw and she calmly lets me.

She didn't whine or whimper or limp or anything. Jake reassures me that it probably felt like a pin prick to her and that with all the soft tissue on her paw blood flows easily. I am reassured but I still feel horrible.

She is doing fine, I don't know how long it will take for her nail to grow back...and she didn't and doesn't even seem to notice anything happened last night. I just couldn't get the image of her little puppy face looking up at me, watching me freaking out, and seeing the little pool of blood by her paw. It was just so sad.

4 comments:

keo boun pheng said...

oh anne - do not worry...judy will be fine. she told you so herself when she licked your tears. the first "thing" that happens in always the hardest ... (i don't have a dog, but do have a child)

my first "thing" with silo: he was crawling around under my desk & found a rubber band & put it in his mouth, i tried to get it out but couldn't grasp it and then i freaked out, souliyahn rushed over and stuck his finger way into silo's mouth to try to catch the end of it before he swallowed it entirely, the finger-gagging was more tramatic for him than the actual swallowing part and THAT is what made him cry so hard. i worried and worried that that rubber band was going to get caught on some sort of organ and cause major damage ..it didn't.. that was over a year ago and silo is FINE... judy will be fine too.

Trisha said...

Poor Judy. Poor Anne. You will both be fine -- at least she didn't whimper, that is the worst. I always had Tuck cut Lucy's nails, and B-man's and the peanuts now, too.

Cheryl said...

Oh...I bet she forgot about already. Don't beat yourself up over it, ok? She still loves you.

Marissa said...

i can completely understand how you feel. it's the same, i'm sure, as when a mom accidentally hurts her child. the person who is supposed to be the protector accidentally inflicting pain. but judy KNOWS you love her and it's true- all is forgotten. and the only way to learn how to clip her nails correctly is by trial and error, so there is a lesson learned here. but i SO understand. my heart goes out to you!!